Pale Red *Dots* ESO | Proxima b confirmed UPDATE 2017 PaleRedDots!!

[Green Baron]

 

It's all about generating money. I bet many have bought the "Spiegel" just because of this and on Facebook millions of clicks where collected and with those customized ads transported to the clickers.

And in the end nothing has been found or it is so unclear that speculation just continues, regardless whether or not there is a rocky planet in the assumaed zone where liquid water could eventually exist.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094576515301247

The "media-maelstrom" .... :-)

[Spaceception]

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow
You're only a day away!

http://www.universetoday.com/130419/eso-announcement-address-reports-proxima-centauri-exoplanet/#

[Scotius]

40 minutes ago, Spaceception said:

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow
You're only a day away!

http://www.universetoday.com/130419/eso-announcement-address-reports-proxima-centauri-exoplanet/#

Hopefully we are going to hear more than: "Uh, yes - we've found something. It looks like a planet, but we're not 100% sure. We need more time for observations. Thank you."

[CptRichardson]

6 minutes ago, Scotius said:

Hopefully we are going to hear more than: "Uh, yes - we've found something. It looks like a planet, but we're not 100% sure. We need more time for observations. Thank you."

Uh, we're going to hear that, with percentage-chance calculations of how certain they are and maybe a few of the characteristics. They need peer review before they can completely confirm it, but now that they've seen something they can swing Hubble around and glare at Proxima until the little dwarf coughs up its secrets like Jeb beating the crap out of a booster-pinata.

[ProtoJeb21]

50 minutes ago, Spaceception said:

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow
You're only a day away!

http://www.universetoday.com/130419/eso-announcement-address-reports-proxima-centauri-exoplanet/#

*insert excited squealing here*

[Green Baron]

 

Mass and orbital period (+calculated distance from the star)

+speculation

 

Edited August 23, 2016 by Green Baron

[Spaceception]

Whoo!

No live coverage AFAIK

Edited August 24, 2016 by Spaceception

[Spaceception]

I don't like these teases.

[Atlas2342]

24 minutes ago, Spaceception said:

I don't like these teases.

Well, on the bright side, all the more hype 

[Green Baron]

http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1629/

Here it is.

Now, while the girls squeal, let's analyze what they have.

While having an evening beer :-)

Edit: nothing against girls, gravity beware, just ... a, forget it.

2nd edit: Nature-Paper coming ...

3rd edit: "habitable zone" doesn't take radiation into account. The planet could be dry and without atmosphere because it's very close to the sun (X-ray, particles). I wait for the nature paper, the linked paper is not yet released.

 

Edited August 24, 2016 by Green Baron

[legoclone09]

I think they released it or something.

I saw something on Reddit in r/space about it. This is good. Someone said it might be in the top 5 closest to Earth planets (like similarity)

Edited August 24, 2016 by legoclone09

[Green Baron]

Why don't you look on the ESO page ? :-)

[legoclone09]

7 hours ago, Green Baron said:

Why don't you look on the ESO page ? :-)

I was just looking at my Reddit front page and saw it. Then I remembered this thread and went to share it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/4zdkh2/astronomers_have_found_an_earthlike_planet/

[Green Baron]

 

It's on the ESO page, together with the submitted Nature-paper and the abstracts of two papers that deal with the probability of liquid water and an atmosphere :-)

 

[Scotius]

This planet is orbiting too close to the star to have a sizeable moon. No moon to keep the inner core dynamo turning, means no magnetic field. No magnetic field means less protection from already increased amounts of radiation coming from the star. I don't have much hope for Proxima b to be anything more than a sterile barren desert. Maybe, if there are sizeable bodies of water life appeared under the surface, where radiation is not a threat.

[Kryten]

On 8/23/2016 at 3:07 PM, CptRichardson said:

Uh, we're going to hear that, with percentage-chance calculations of how certain they are and maybe a few of the characteristics. They need peer review before they can completely confirm it, but now that they've seen something they can swing Hubble around and glare at Proxima until the little dwarf coughs up its secrets like Jeb beating the crap out of a booster-pinata.

Not a chance, Hubble's angular resolution is far too low to see the planet as separate from Proxima.

[Findthepin1]

Can radiation from solar flares get to the nightside? I assume it's tidally locked.

[Kryten]

Could be either totally locked or in 3:2 resonance (like Mercury). If it's tidally locked modeling suggests you'll only get liquid water in the area ner the centre of the light side, so dark side conditions aren't really relevant for questions of habitability. For the 3:2 resonance, liquid water is possible within a narrow tropical belt. Assuming enough water is present that is, formation modeling gives vague enough results that it could be bone-dry.

Edited August 24, 2016 by Kryten

[peadar1987]

1 hour ago, Scotius said:

This planet is orbiting too close to the star to have a sizeable moon. No moon to keep the inner core dynamo turning, means no magnetic field. No magnetic field means less protection from already increased amounts of radiation coming from the star. I don't have much hope for Proxima b to be anything more than a sterile barren desert. Maybe, if there are sizeable bodies of water life appeared under the surface, where radiation is not a threat.

Tidal forces aren't the main thing responsible for keeping the inside of a larger planet liquid. That's almost entirely down to primordial heat and radioactive decay: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_internal_heat_budget

[kurja]

35 minutes ago, peadar1987 said:

Tidal forces aren't the main thing responsible for keeping the inside of a larger planet liquid. That's almost entirely down to primordial heat and radioactive decay: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_internal_heat_budget

But it would also need to rotate..?

[Bill Phil]

1 hour ago, peadar1987 said:

Tidal forces aren't the main thing responsible for keeping the inside of a larger planet liquid. That's almost entirely down to primordial heat and radioactive decay: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_internal_heat_budget

In the case of planets, yes. Gas Giant moons, however... Well, how else do you think Europa is warm enough?

[Green Baron]

1 hour ago, kurja said:

But it would also need to rotate..?

Maybe. Mercury has a very week magnetic field. Earths magnetic field is s result of complex convection and differentiation, currents in the solid/ductile parts of core and mantel. It's yet not totally understood, and it changes, can even have mutliple poles.

Was a joke at university to blame the quadrupole for all kinds of mishaps ...

Edited August 24, 2016 by Green Baron

[magnemoe]

1 hour ago, peadar1987 said:

Tidal forces aren't the main thing responsible for keeping the inside of a larger planet liquid. That's almost entirely down to primordial heat and radioactive decay: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_internal_heat_budget

Even if planet is tidal locked its unlikely that its orbit is exact circular so it wobble a bit like moon does. This has the benefit of even out sunlight a bit as the sun moves forward and back on the sky. it will also make the dark area smaller. 
Another planet in orbit might also cause tides, not sure if it could be close enough to cause an effect like on Jupiter's moons, it can not bee to large or we would spot it.

[MrWalrus123]

http://www.space.com/33834-discovery-of-planet-proxima-b.html

For those of you who don't know, astronomers  have discovered an earth-sized exoplanet orbiting the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri! (which is only 4.2 light years away!) 

Edited August 25, 2016 by MrWalrus123
typo

[Tex Mechs Robot]

The habitual zone, where nail biting and knuckle popping thrive.